Incitec Pivot H1 profit eases 1 pct

MELBOURNE, May 11 (Reuters) - Incitec Pivot Ltd (IPL.AX), Australia's top fertiliser maker, reported a 1 percent fall in first-half profit as its takeover of explosives group Dyno Nobel offset a drop in fertiliser prices and volumes.

The company, the world's second-largest maker of explosives for mines, said it expected a challenging second half and did not reiterate its full year profit forecast from February for a fall of about a third to A$450 million before one-offs.

Analysts have been slashing their full year forecasts to well below Incitec's last forecast on worries about falling fertiliser prices and sliding demand for explosives, as miners hit by weak metals markets have cut production and put expansions on hold.

Net profit before one-offs slipped to A$169.8 million ($128.3 million) for the six months to March from A$171.1 million a year ago, compared with a consensus forecast of A$149 million.

Net profit after items fell 41 percent to A$99.6 million.

Incitec Pivot, now looking for a new chief executive, raised A$1.17 billion last November in a heavily discounted rights offer priced at A$2.50 as it sought to pay down debt. Its shares have since fallen to A$2.35. ($1=1.323 Australian Dollar) (Reporting by Sonali Paul)